Ylva office grabs the Great Place to Work® certification for the third time and starts a Trainee Programme in summer 2022
22.2.2022
Ylva’s goal is to be the best workplace in Finland. This goal is not important to us because we want a fancy certificate on the office door but because a good work culture is crucial to the realisation of our other goals.
Ylva took part in the Great Place to Work® assessment for the third time and, as a result, gained the Great Place to Work® certification. For the second time running, Ylva improved its score compared to the previous year. This time, the result was 8% better than in the previous assessment, which is an excellent achievement in these exceptional times.
“The workplace are us, and how each of us chooses to meet a colleague, customer or collaborator. I take pleasure in the atmosphere of openness, dynamism and respecting diversity that, despite COVID and other challenges, brings the Ylva people together! I want to thank everyone for their input in building our work community, even under exceptional circumstances,” comments Ylva’s CEO Leea Tolvas.
“I am going right back to the basics – what I find best is that you can be your genuine self here. This has not been very hard for me in the past either, but Ylva is the first place where I feel it is even recommended.
Secondly, I feel that we are really cared about, both as our previously mentioned selves and as a community. And, most importantly, I feel that as individuals, we care about one another and our work community.
The third point I would like to raise is trust: at Ylva, we trust each another as well as everyone’s skills and judgment. Nevertheless, help and advice are always as close as your closest colleague,” comments Ylva’s Rental Specialist Petteri Vitikainen.
The Great Place to Work® results were discussed among Ylva’s Executive Team in January and with the entire office in early February. Certain points were highlighted based on the survey which will be monitored over the following year.
The Great Place to Work® survey was conducted on Ylva’s office staff between 1 and 16 Dec 2021, and 96% of the office personnel took part in it. One criterium of the Great Place to Work® certification is that the Trust Index® shows a combined result of at least 70%.
Because we believe that there is always room for improvement and development, we are especially happy to be launching Ylva’s first ever Trainee Programme for summer 2022. Our financial, communications, real estate and sustainability/restaurant teams are now looking for a total of four trainees for the summer’s Trainee Programme. As a student-owned company, it comes naturally to us to be involved with raising future professionals, and we cannot wait to see what kinds of personalities will be joining our work community in the coming summer.
“Ever since I came to Ylva, I have been offered plenty of opportunities to develop not only my personal job description to suit myself but also my professional skills and knowhow. I feel that I have been able to take part in projects where my work effort and skills have been appreciated, but which have also offered me a chance to learn something new to then put into practice in my next task. In addition, my wish for training and courses, for example, has been acknowledged – even to the extent that I have been reminded to search out possible interesting training sessions.
The creative industries are easily surrounded by a certain stereotypical idea that creativity cannot be learned but should be this mystical, innate quality. Unlike in my previous roles, at Ylva I have been encouraged to be creative in a whole new way: I have been offered every opportunity and the setting to practise my work in circumstances in which I get to implement my abilities as best as possible and to learn also from and about things that do not seem to require creativity at first glance. Creative solutions and ways of thinking are welcomed at Ylva, where we are not stuck in a rut or “this is how it’s always been done” -style thinking,” our graphic designer Kata Naaranoja sums up her own development path at Ylva.
Learn more about our Trainee Programme here: ylva.fi/ylva/uutiset/haemme-vastuullisuudesta-syttyvia-tekijoita-trainee-ohjelmaamme (in Finnish).
More information:
Aino Pekkarinen
Culture & People Officer
+358 40 542 4626
aino.pekkarinen@ylva.fi
